A Quote by Marouane Fellaini
The manager might like it sometimes when I play up front because I can cause trouble for the defenders, but for me, my best position is defensive midfield, stopping the opposition, and then looking to impose myself on a game.
Related Quotes
My favorite position is in the center of the midfield, maybe the defensive midfield. I think I can play this position the best. I played there in my youth all the time, and I like to be in the center of the game because you're never standing still.
If you win the midfield, you probably win the game. But that doesn't mean the players in the midfield are the ones alone who determine that, because now we have strikers who drop into midfield and defenders who move up into the midfield. It is the area you must dominate.
My favourite position is in the midfield. I think I can play to my strengths there. I can communicate with every player. I'm more in the game, because as a right-back you have to stay on one side and you're not always in the game for 90 minutes. So I prefer the centre midfield position.
When the manager asks me to play somewhere, I play there. But my best position is midfield.
I changed my position when I was 16 or 17. I started in midfield or further forward as a number 10, and then in one tournament, we lost two defenders to injury in the same game, and we didn't have any on the bench. So I played at the back, and the manager of the first team saw me, and he said, 'I want this guy in the first team,' and that was that!
In the 1970s you would have had lots of black goalkeepers and defensive midfield players but never made it professionally because the perception was, 'You don't think too much, you can't play in positions of responsibility so you play on the wing or up front.' Lots were lost to the game because of the perception.
I'm a centre forward, and that is my preferred position. But I'll play on the wing or in midfield, wherever the manager wants me to play.
I prefer to play in midfield, whether that is attacking midfield or defensive midfield.
Defensive midfield can be the one position that's easier to play as you get older.
You cannot play the position Kroos plays in defensive midfield besides Luka Modric better than he does.
Sometimes I look at myself and ask, 'What is my best position?' But I think it's a defensive midfielder; that's the best one.
In the defensive midfield position, the player needs to give balance to the team and try to control the game. That's exactly what I try to do.
At Under-11/12, I was playing as a right-back. The manager then was Cyril Helstone, and he said to me, 'No, you're not a defender. You should be in midfield.' That was the big change in my career because from that moment until I made my debut in the first-team at Feyenoord, that was the position I played.
It doesn't matter who you play against in midfield, you need to try to come out on top and more often than not when a team wins a midfield battle they normally have a good chance of winning the game because that's where a lot of the play goes through.
Night Train Lane was the best defensive back to ever play the game. I tried to pattern my game after him because he was the best. He could have played any one of the four (secondary) positions. I've never seen a defensive back hit the way he hit - I mean take them down, whether it be Jim Taylor or Jim Brown.
It was crazy, like I watched him on TV growing up. And you know, I'd be a little starstruck sometimes, because we'd be in a game, and then you know, I'm looking over at Coach for the play. And I'm lookin' like, Man, that's Coach K right there! He's my coach.
Related Authors
Allen Iverson Quotes
American
Athlete
Andy Murray Quotes
Scottish
Athlete
CM Punk Quotes
American
Athlete
Conor McGregor Quotes
Irish
Athlete
Georges St-Pierre Quotes
Canadian
Athlete
Jack LaLanne Quotes
American
Athlete
Jillian Michaels Quotes
American
Athlete
Jon Jones Quotes
American
Athlete
Kenny Smith Quotes
American
Athlete
Kevin Durant Quotes
American
Athlete
Rafael Nadal Quotes
Spanish
Athlete
Ronda Rousey Quotes
American
Athlete
Scottie Pippen Quotes
American
Athlete
Shaquille O'Neal Quotes
American
Athlete
Stephen Curry Quotes
American
Athlete
Usain Bolt Quotes
Jamaican
Athlete